Customers Avoid Brands with Uncertain Future

As a result of the recession, one in five new car buyers are now avoiding particular brands due to the uncertain future of the brand. If the top three reasons for avoiding a brand remain unchanged from 2008 - styling, price and perceived reliability -, the concern for the brand’s future is new. According to JD Power, the most affected American brands are Chrysler, Dodge, HUMMER, Pontiac and Saturn.

"New-vehicle buyers want to know that if anything goes wrong with their vehicle in a year or two that the manufacturer will be there to back up their product," said Kerri Wise, director of automotive research at JD Power.

"While Chrysler and GM struggled to gain the confidence of some consumers, Ford actually made strides in improving perceptions of its products and reducing year-over-year avoidance in the critical areas of quality and reliability."

In the buyer’s conception, a brand with an uncertain future means less reliability, rapid depreciation and poor quality. "For some American manufacturers, quality and reliability performance in the past has led to a poor perception among consumers and, ultimately, to overall avoidance of those brands," said Wise. "These perceptions are slow to change among consumers, so domestic brands must continue to focus on quality improvement and make sure their efforts are communicated to consumers."

Another important aspect is that Americans preferred American built cars and avoided imports. "For some American manufacturers, quality and reliability performance in the past has led to a poor perception among consumers and, ultimately, to overall avoidance of those brands," said Wise. "These perceptions are slow to change among consumers, so domestic brands must continue to focus on quality improvement and make sure their efforts are communicated to consumers."